Along with some other performance upgrades, we are about to replace the standard top-mount intercooler on a new Forester “S” with a much larger MRT item. The MRT range of intercoolers are the latest design in cooling efficiency for maximum flow, maximum boost flow & reliable fit. They also come supplied with a custom-made under bonnet scoop, which ensures 100% of air flow to the intercooler!

Having Dual Tank Technology for maximum flow & best efficiency; the MRT TMIC was chosen as the preferred intercooler for the Motor Magazine Hot Tuner Challenge in 2011.

The kits come complete with a high-pressure silicone pipe kit, which replaces the factory plastic hoses. A GFB Blow Off Valve is an added extra (as seen in this pic!)

The below pic is comparing the standard TMIC of this Forester to the upgraded MRT item – check out the difference!

For further information/price on upgrading the intercooler on your vehicle, please give us a call on 07 3352 3363 or email: sales@mercurymotorsport.com.au

We were blown away with an 88% gain in peak power & a 67% gain in peak torque! The customer is very happy with his newly found power & torque. Fuel economy isn’t too bad either we’ve been told!

If you’ve got a Forester (or any turbo’d Subaru for that matter) & are interested in getting such power & torque gains (like this one) OR even just slightly more power & torque gains, then please give us a call on 07 3352 3363 or email: sales@mercurymotorsport.com.au

Being a street car (also used for light track use), this Mazda 3 MPS came to us for advice on performance suspension, braking & engine upgrade options.

For increased horsepower & torque, an “XB PowerKit” was fitted to the MPS. This kit includes replacement of the small, factory turbo dump pipe with a larger & much better flowing item. We also fabricated a section of the exhaust to join the new high-flow cat converter, which we also supplied & installed.

The braking performance package that we selected included new front rotors. We chose DBA’s newly released “T3 4000 Series” slotted items. This new design consists of an array of slots that have been formulated using the latest in computer-aided engineering design software & extensive on-road & rack track tests. They will be quieter, more reponsive & have a smoother brake pedal feel than the standard rotors. Chosen pads were the MRT Sport pads. They are a fantastic upgrade to any Mazda, Subaru or Mitsubishi track car, that is also driven on the street. They handle high er brake temperatures in track conditions (heavy braking) over the factory standard brake pads. They produce a low amount of dust & are quieter than competitor’s performance pads.

A positive shift kit was also fitted. This comprises of stiffer gearbox crossmember bushes to make the gearbox feel firmer & allows for quicker gear shifting. This is an excellent value upgrade for Subaru Mazda vehicles! This MPS was already lowered, so we installed Whiteline’s bump steer correction kit in the front end. This kit raises the vehicle’s front roll-centre geometry (which is affected when lowering), which will improve tyre grip, reduce understeer, increase vehicle stability & improve steering precision. If you would like to activate more grip with your vehicle, contact us for further details.

Finally, the MPS was tuned using ECUTEK software. A great increase in both horsepower & torque was gained, netting 187kw at the front wheels & 445Nm of torque!

Ask us how we can improve the handling, performance & reliability of your Mazda, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Nissan, Toyota, Ford or Holden! 07 3352 3363 or sales@mercurymotorsport.com.au

This quite serious GTR came to us for the first time for a retune on E85 fuel & a performance inspection. One of the things we noticed was that engine had excessive blow-by, which was due to the oil catch-can set up being inefficient for higher boost levels. Metal shavings were also found in the diff oil. The engine was removed to redesign & re-fabricate the catch-can system; modify the sump to a much more efficient setup; repair the diff & install a Quaife LSD. We’re looking forward to getting it back together for more tuning! Already making 685hp at all 4 wheels.

This 2002 S15 came to us for some upgrades & it also had a bad misfire evident. Already having a Power FC ECU, pod filter, full 3″ exhaust, Splitfire coils, Garrett 2871R turbo, FMIC, Greddy plenum, custom i/c piping, & upgraded cams, we fitted a surge tank (with Speedflow fittings & lines), Bosch 044 pump & a set of upgraded Nismo injectors. Also rectifying the misfire (faulty crank angle sensor), Trent retuned the Power FC.

RESULTS: 340.35rwhp (253.8rwkw) – & 525Nm of torque, which (comparing to when it was first on the dyno with the misfire etc. & lower boost) is a 33.93% increase in peak power & 22.09% increase in peak torque

These dyno graphs represent just how much power is achieved from simple mods to a VR38DETT!

Owner, Kym, came to us in 2010, where we carried out “preliminary” dyno runs on his R35 GTR. We then replaced the turbo dump-pipes with Mercury Motorsport custom fabricated items (hand made incorporating high-flowed cat converters & fitted Willall Racing mid-pipes, but Kym still retained the standard rear exhaust section. Tuned with a Cobb Access Port, the R35 put out 336.6kw at all 4 wheels…

Recently, Kym’s GTR returned for more. This time we removed the Willall Racing mid-pipes & hand-fabricated our own & had them fitted. We also fitted a Willall Racing Titanium rear exhaust section & carried out a retune. The result was a whopping 379.4kw at all 4 wheels!

Full list of results/increases in power & torque between all stages are as follows:

Last year, we fitted a Harrop HTV2300 supercharger kit & an upgraded fuel pump to this absolutely immaculate GT. We also hand-fabricated here, in-house, a full custom exhaust system & tuned it with VCM Suite ECU software.

Recently, our new tuner, Trent, gave it a retune using SCT Performance Tuning software. The result was a 5.7% increase in peak power & 3.8% increase in peak torque, bringing it up to 392.7rwkw (or 526.6rwhp) & 830Nm.

From just one of our many, many happy customers!!!
"To everyone at Mercury Motorsport,
I'd just like to say a big thank you for all the hard work you have put into
my Subaru Forester XT. When I first contacted Trent about modifying my stock
09 Forester XT, I was immediately impressed with how professional and easy
to deal with Mercury was. My goal of 200kw atw was not only met but
exceeded to a whopping 210.7kw atw and 450Nm of torque! After the
modifications were in place the Ecutek tune made the whole package run
perfectly with amazing power increase anywhere above 3600rpm. With the added
suspension mods in place the car now feels more responsive and handles
corners with ease which is a tough ask for a family wagon. I'm so happy
with the quality work Mercury has done with my Forester, I would recommend
anyone looking to add more performance to their daily drive to give them a
call, you won't be disappointed.
Thanks again,
David"

Without question, the OEM ECU offers the best cold start, driveability and refinement when compared to aftermarket ECU hardware. However, many aftermarket ECUs provide extra (generally motorsport related) features, that many enthusiasts desire. Unfortunately, when replacing the standard ECU with an aftermarket ECU, the refinement of the standard ECU is often lost.

Now with EcuTek RaceROM, this compromise is no longer necessary. By way of a software upgrade to the standard ECU, RaceROM adds many custom calibration options to the standard OEM ECU, offering features beyond the standard fuelling, ignition and boost control, yet retaining its driveability, sophistication and fuel economy.

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GENERAL RACEROM FEATURES:

EcuTek RaceROM was developed to enhance the standard OEM ECU with additional features. These are some of the features that are implemented in the range of ECU supported by RaceROM.

Currently, RaceROM is available for Subaru electronic-throttle vehicles, Mitsubishi EVO X, and Nissan GTR R-35 ECUs. Other vehicles will be supported in the future.
General RaceROM Features

These RaceROM features are generally available on all vehicles.

* Map Switching – Map switching gives you the ability to swap between two calibrations that can be tailored to your requirements. For example:
- “Road Mode” and “Race Mode”, can provide two sets of maps for civilised driving to conserve fuel, and then a high performance calibration for track days or racing.
- “Valet Mode” A low performance mode if you have to put your car into someone else’s care.
- “Anti-Theft Mode” A mode where the car just doesn’t work unless you know how to change maps.

Switching calibration can be done in several different ways, including whilst driving.

Each calibration can include its own set of other RaceROM features, such as flat-foot shifting or auto throttle downshift blip.

- Per-Gear Boost Control: allows separate boost calibrations for each gear, thereby maximising boost control options and flexibility. For example, boost may be reduced in 1st gear to prevent wheel spin, but raised in 3rd-6th for increased performance.

- Per-Gear Rev Limits: this feature allows per gear rev limits to be configured. It could be used to improve 0-60 times by allowing a higher 2nd gear limit to just hit 60 mph / 100 km/h in 2nd, whilst preserving the lower rev limit in other gears.

- Speed Density: this feature changes the way the engine load is calculated. When SD mode is activated, the ECU will disregard the MAF sensor reading and will instead calculate mass airflow based on Engine Speed, Manifold Pressure and Air Temperature. This allows the MAF sensor to be removed, and a larger intake may then be fitted if desired. This function can be tailored to work permanently, or under certain circumstances, such as MAP value or MAF voltage, enabling you to make the most of the precision of MAP and MAF fuel calculations for low speed driving.

The features available for each vehicle type are detailed below.

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RACEROM SUBARU:

RaceROM for Subaru is available now! RaceROM currently supports the following features on Subaru Electronic Throttle based ECUs:

Note that due to space constraints within some ECUs, not all features are available on all vehicles. However, all features are available on the majority of ECUs. This is due to the available space within the ECUs code and data storage areas varying from ECU to ECU. 153 Subaru ECUs are currently supported.

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RACEROM MITSUBISHI EVO:

RaceROM supports all models of the Mitsubishi EVO X from 2008 onwards, and supports the following feature enhancements

* DTC Enable & Disable – Provides full access to turn off diagnostic trouble codes
* Custom Live Data Support – Provides useful live data parameters not available from the manufacturer

All RaceROM Mitsubishi EVOs features are available on all EVO X ROMs. More features are currently in development!!

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RACEROM SUPPORTED VEHICLES:

Currently, RaceROM supports the Subaru electronic-throttle (drive-by-wire) vehicles, Mitsubishi EVO X and the Nissan GTR R35. However, due to space constraints on each specific ECU not all features are available on all models.

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RACEROM FUTURE DEVELOPMENT:

Currently only Subaru electronic throttle (drive-by-wire), Mitsubishi EVO X, Colt CZT and the Nissan GTR R35 are supported by RaceROM. EcuTek will extend RaceROM support to other ECU families in the future.

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RACEROM SUCCESSES:

During its development, several EcuTek dealers around the world have used development versions of RaceROM to test features and performance. Here are some of the teams performing with RaceROM tuned vehicles.

* Kocar won the Polish Time Attack, beating cars with significantly higher power outputs.
* Crawford Performance have powered vehicles in several major US events such as the Super Lap Battle, ESPN X-games, and the Gymkhana Grid.
* Zenkai Motorsports have consistently taken first place at events across Nevada in the Super Lap Battle and Redline Time Attack, setting new class records with a RaceROM tuned Subaru.

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RACEROM MERCURY MOTORSPORT CUSTOMER REVIEW:

This is a review from a Mercury Motorsport customer after we enhanced his vehicle with RaceROM:

“I have recently had my car tuned by Mercury Motorsport and as one of the first to try out the new Race-Rom software offered by ECUTEK, I was asked to write a review on how I found this product.

Race-Rom offers three distinct features above a typical flash upgrade, these are, Launch Control, No lift to shift and downshift throttle blip.

Firstly launch control, this is activated by engaging the clutch while stationary and applying full throttle, the car does not rev past 4500 and builds boost pressure. I found this feature absolutely amazing! The car launched to speed instantly, no hesitation or boost lag, just a crack and we were away.

No lift to shift would have to be the best feature of Race-Rom in my eyes. After taking my near stock 2008 WRX to the local drag strip I found the electronic throttle was severely cutting back on a hard shift. Even third to fourth gear shifts the car bogged down very harshly. Now that Race-Rom is switched on the car stays on the power and feels incredible. A hard shift and there is almost no power loss, this severely improved the cars performance.

Almost anyone that drives these new model cars complains of the ‘doughyness’ of the electronic throttle and I have found that the Race-Rom immensely improves this.

The downshift throttle blip does not activate every time you downshift (which would get annoying) it seems to only blip above 2500-3000rpm and light braking. This comes across as a race oriented feature and would be great on the circuit. As it is the ECU doing the throttle blip not the driver it is much more accurate and stops the over rev or under rev coming into a corner.

As a summary I found the Race-Rom a great street/track feature and would definitely recommend it to anyone that plans on getting their ECU flashed with ECUTEK. The vehicle I had Race-Rom fitted to was a 2008 WRX with an intake and exhaust package. Finally a big thanks to the guys and girls at Mercury Motorsport for the tune, it has made the WRX come alive. I would definitely recommend them to everyone.”

After the recent debut of the Mercury Motorsport/QScan R35 GTR at the World Time Attack Challange at Eastern Creek last August, there has been a lot of coverage of the car. Here is a photo of the car featured in the Japanese magazine,Option2.

For those interested, the car is back in development with a suspension overhaul thanks to Tein and SuperPro. We are also redesigning the aero package used on the car, as well as undertaking further engine development with the aim of having in excess of 900hp at the wheels for WTAC 2012. We can’t wait!